Solitaire
by CathQueen
Summary: "Stay with me," Henry said but Catherine had to walk away. Just a Little drabble of what I think went on in her mind after rejecting him... and what she quite possibly did. (Chapter 2 added upon request.)
1. Catherine

**Author's note:** Reign's not mine and all that jazz...

And "Stay" is still in the works btw, chapter 8 almost done. So sorry for the delay! Work's crazy busy right now but this little drabble just forced itself on my mind after I watched Catherine rejecting Henry again tonight. *le sigh* Rated T.

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 **Solitaire**

 _Stay with me,_ Henry's voice sounded in her head as she walked away from him, her feet unsteady, her heart racing, her lips craving his to kiss her. But what her flesh desired, her mind wouldn't give her. After all, Henry had just killed a woman during an act of adultery. She should not forgive him for humiliating her again. And yet his eyes had shown her so much lust, so much of what she longed to hear. _I want you, Catherine._ She sighed, her chest unable to heave in the confinement of her corset. Only Henry made her feel that way, showed her the limits of her female existence. That's why she had to put some distance between herself and him, find a retreat where she could be Caterina again.

When she finally reached her chambers, Catherine found her servants cleaning her possessions, making her bed and everything else she didn't want to see on an average day and especially not now. "Leave me," she ordered, her voice stern like the Queen of France while her heart was beating fast, her Medici blood boiling from the memories of Henry's touch.

Had it really just been a couple of weeks since he had last caressed her skin? Catherine closed her eyes, then rid herself of her day dress to allow her chest to take in all the air she needed to keep a clear head. But that alone didn't do, so she undressed herself completely in dire hope to get control again over her head. As she slipped into her dressing gown, her breathing slowed down but the tightness in her chest remained.

 _Stay with me_ , his voice was like a distant memory but his eyes haunted her as soon as she closed hers to concentrate on her breathing. "Henry," she whispered to herself, then shed her gown and slid underneath the covers of her freshly made bed.

Keeping her eyes closed, Catherine tried to will her husband's face away, but she didn't stand a chance. Her heart had already taken over, seduced by the softness of her linens against the bareness of her skin, his scent lingering in the air from the clothes she had just dropped on the floor. She couldn't stand not touching herself where she knew he would now stroke her if she had accepted his invitation to share his bed. As her mind replayed memories of his mouth inflaming her skin, her hands now did his job, making her blush much faster than usual. Although she always said an extra prayer afterwards for this particular sin, she couldn't stop herself from committing it. Her husband's eyes haunted her while she brought herself the pleasure she wished he would give her every day. And day it was, not dark outside as usual when she couldn't sleep without him on her mind.

"Henry," she whispered again, her voice ragged now as she approached her climax. His name always fell from her lips, even when he had enraged or betrayed her. She couldn't help it. It was the kind of secret she liked to keep to herself, how easily her husband could weaken her knees.

"Henry," her voice sounded again, a little louder now, so she buried her face into her pillow to muffle the sound of the Queen coming undone without her King.

What she wouldn't give for him to find her now like this, her body bare for him as well as her soul. His name fell from her lips again, inaudible now for the second climax always muted her tongue. Catching her breath, she lay between her sheets, crawling and stretching like a playful kitten. _Stay with me_ , his voice haunted her again. "If only you could see me now, my love," she thought to herself, a melancholy smile brushing over her lips. "Then you'd know how hard it is for me to deny you this."


	2. Henry

**Author's note:** This was really meant to be a one shot, but chelseall83 was so sweet to request a continuation. So this is Henry's pov. Not sure this is what you expeccted, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. :) And thanks so much for the lovely comment/s! Always such a treat. :)

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"Don't ruin it," her voice reached his ears, making his heart skip a beat as her hand touched his chest to keep him at bay. She made other women look tame, indeed, and sure knew how to pull the rug from under him by uttering a single sentence. What did she mean? All he wanted was to taste her mouth in that hallway, feel her waist in an igniting caress. He wanted her in his bed, not for show to save his skin but for real. Her body pressed against his, her voice whispering into his ear how much she needed him. He had seen it in her eyes, that spark of desire. Where was it now that she walked away so fast he barely had a chance to look after her.

Unable to move, the King of France took a moment to swallow her rejection, to apprehend she had slipped away from him again. When he turned around, his eyes were glued to her form rushing away on graceful feet. Even when she took flight her hips were swaying seductively, driving him mad. Releasing a moan of frustration, he hit the stone wall with his fist to hurt himself and forget the pain her escape was causing him. But his rage did not subside. What he wanted was to push her against that wall and kiss her hard, to invade her mouth and bring his hands onto her skin, to make her blush and gasp his name.

Henry shook his head. He would not wallow in unrequited desire for his wife this time, not allow his longing to turn into contempt. He had walked that path before, he was not willing to pay the price anymore. So he started towards her chambers, determined to change her mind. But as he reached the door that separated her life from most of his, his knees were shaking, his breathing painful, every heartbeat tightening his chest.

How long had it been since he last closed those doors behind him, leaving her guards wonder what business he would have to discuss with her in such privacy? Wasn't the king just tolerating her presence in court these days? Hadn't his pardon saved her life while her sins left her deeply indebted to him? He knew the court whispers, rumors and malice directed at his wife. What would it take to undo the lies he himself had spread to weaken her position so many times?

Henry tried to shake it off, his regrets, the doubts. Somehow her sanctum, her colors, her scent left him vulnerable and wistful every time. Only in his chambers he could be in charge, never here in hers.

"Henry," her voice reached his ears in a soft whisper, startling him out of his thoughts. There she was, standing before her bed, blissfully unaware of his presence and completely unguarded. Her hair let down, arousing him from afar, she shed her clothes and slipped into bed, her body bare, her curves full and inviting. Henry gulped, unwilling to interrupt what he couldn't believe to witness, Catherine so sensual, so intimate. As her eyes fluttered open for a moment, he was quick to slide behind her folding screen to avoid detection and gasped as he watched her hands touching her skin where his tongue wished to go instead. This was too much for him, his Queen excited over him in her bed, bringing herself the joy he longed to give her himself, he couldn't look away. Her touch too skilled to suggest this was the first time she was pleasuring herself, but it sure was his first time watching his wife exposing herself to him like this in her most private. He almost felt guilty about stealing that secret from her, but then it was too delicious to watch her sinning. Never in his dreams would he have expected her to be so wicked, untamed. And yet, wasn't that exactly what she had always been, his Medici queen?

Her voice sang to him as he was hiding behind her screen, his name falling from her lips in quiet ecstasy. He couldn't breathe. "Henry," her voice was deeper now, labored, rich. How he loved to hear her so in love with him. Bare in her sheets she lay, her hands working a perfect rhythm that triggered a moan so deep it aroused him to his core. Fidgety now from watching her climax on the memory of him, he felt constrained in his clothes and began to shed them bit by bit.

How could it be that she had left him cold only a moment ago and now lay in bed excited over him? _You are such a mystery to me, my Queen,_ he smiled while restraining himself from following her lead to start a solitary dance.

"Oh, Catherine, my little miscreant," he whispered to himself and watched her come a second time, his body shaking in anticipation. How he craved to touch her now, her body stretching like a sated lioness. How beautiful she was, her face glowing in the aftermath of so much passion.

How surprised everyone would be to know the Queen of France had it in her, that deep desire for her King. And how well she always guarded her feelings, Henry was amazed. Even lying before him now, completely undone, she was so much stronger than him. As he watched her curl and wriggle in her sheets, Henry finally stepped out of the shadows, unable to withstand her allure any longer.

"Henry," his name fell from her lips again, now in surprise, her cheeks crimson red, her eyes alert but with that special glow. She was in heat for him, he had seen her like this before: the lioness was still hungry. And so he claimed her mouth with his before she could protest his presence, before her mind kicked in to kick him out of bed. But he didn't have to worry, her hands already pulled him closer, allowing him to overpower her and making him feel like the lion he always craved to be.

"Make love to me," Catherine whispered as his hands followed the path her own had mapped out mere seconds ago, triggering a moan that made it hard for him not to ravish her. But what he saw in her eyes slowed him down. Her soul exposed to him in a rare moment of trust, her pair of golden brown conveyed how much she wanted to own his heart. And so he rocked her gently, his passion tender like it used to be when they were young, his love for her always just a heartbeat away on the tip of his tongue.


End file.
